


Young Love In The Woods

by Luluthechoosingcrow



Category: Guns N' Roses
Genre: Alternate Universe, Boyfriends, Childhood Sweethearts, Fluff, Junior High, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 17:35:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14383614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luluthechoosingcrow/pseuds/Luluthechoosingcrow
Summary: Duff Mckagan and Jeff "Izzy" Isbell are the coolest, most punk best friends (and secret boyfriends) that go to Rivers Junior High School in Seattle. Prompt from hipsterizzy on tumblr.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I saw a post by hipsterizzy on Tumblr about how they wanted a junior high AU of Duff and Izzy being all cool and punk when with their friends, but all shy and sweet when they're alone. It's like 3 years late, and it's more of a flashback to when they met, but here it is!

"Beat it, douchebag!" Duff screamed after the retreating football player. Thankfully, his voice didn't crack, although he had to concentrate on keeping it steady. "You okay?" He turned to ask his best friend (and boyfriend) Izzy. "Yeah babe, I'm fine."

A scarlet blush covered the young punk's cheeks at the nickname, but, sadly, his mom wouldn't let him grow his hair out, so he couldn't hide it. Izzy just chuckled again and, looking around to make sure they were alone, leaned forward to give Duff a kiss. It wasn't a particularly skilled kiss (not like they would know), much too sloppy to be that enjoyable, but it was still nice. Besides, they could always go back to Izzy's house after school and practice more.

"Come on, I told Mackenzie that we'd ditch math to go to the arcade with her."

Izzy grinned and grabbed Duff's hand as they walked across the field and over the old baseball lot that had been the start of it all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About two and a half years ago, Izzy's mother had finally gotten sick of his father and moved them out to Seattle, Washington in the middle of summer. He had only been twelve then, and was very nervous about going to a new school with new people in a new town in a place that seemed the opposite of Indiana in every way. But, as he was walking through the woods behind his house one day, he ran smack into another boy about his age. Or rather, that boy was going so fast that he had run directly into Izzy.

Oh, and another thing, he was still going by Jeff back then. And Jeff had never been more bewildered yet intrigued than he was with this new person in front of him. The boy had fluffy chestnut hair from under which the most beautiful hazel eyes he had ever seen peered out. Sitting up from his sprawl on the dirt trail, Jeff also noticed that he was wearing grungy high tops, swim trunks, and a Led Zeppelin t shirt. And, he was carrying what appeared to be a baseball bat and catcher's mit.

"Sorry about that, I didn't really see you there," he apologised, pushing the hair off his forehead with a dirty hand to get a better look at Jeff. "Are you new around here? I haven't seen you at school OR the game." 

Despite being incredibly shy, Jeff was curious. "The game? What game?" The boy just looked at him. "Ok, you're definitely new around here. Come on, I'll show you!"

Jeff was mostly quiet during the walk, only occasionally asking questions, but the boy didn't seem to mind much. "So, every summer we, I mean all the boys in the area, have a bunch of baseball games in the lot behind the school. I guess you could call it a tournament.... Hey, what IS your name, by the way? Where are you from? You have a cool accent."

"Uhh...um...I'm Jeffery, Jeffrey Isbell," he stuttered. This boy made him feel oddly nervous, but he couldn't figure out why. "My mom and I just moved here last week from Indiana."

"Wow! That's pretty far away. Do you have baseball in Indiana?" Jeff felt a little offended, OF COURSE there was baseball in Indiana, but he answered anyways. "Yeah we do, but I never really played much." He left out the part where nobody at home wanted to play with him, and his only friend was always being grounded or stuck inside at some weird church thing.

"That's ok, I can teach you, or maybe you can keep score." He felt strangely excited about the thought of this guy, what ever his name was, spending the summer teaching him about baseball. "Hey, what's YOUR name?"

"Oh! Sorry dude, I totally forgot. I'm Duff!" 

Jeff looked at him in confusion. "Duff? I've never heard that name before." This time it was the boy's turn to stutter. "Uhh...well uh.. It's not actually Duff. My name is Michael Mckagan, but everybody has always called me Duff, so that's what I go by..." "Oh, ok." 

All (well, most) of the boys in the neighborhood welcomed him, and they played until the hottest part of the day. Duff showed him how to swing the bat, how to pull his arm back and throw a curve ball, and how to spot a foul.

"Hey kid, you ever chew before?" One of the older boys asked him. Jeff shook his head no. He'd seen some of the older men back home chew tobacco and spit it into a bucket, but his mom always told him no when he asked if he could try. 'It's bad for your teeth, honey,' she had said, 'they'll rot and make your breath smell.'

"Leave off him, Johnny. The kid just got here," another one chimed in. "It's fine," Jeff said slowly, "I've always wanted to try." So Duff grabbed the pack from the older boy and they started the trek back to the trail where they had met. 

Settling down with their backs against a large tree, the boys split open the pack. "You've got to chew it for a while so that it softens up. Once all the spit builds up in your mouth, then you shoot." So saying, a few minutes later, Duff took aim and spit across the path onto a rock. Jeff tried to follow suit, but it tasted bad and he ended up coughing and getting drool all over himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And that's how we met!" Duff exclaimed to Mackenzie as she finished her milkshake. "Wow, that's pretty rad. I could never imagine you not being able to spit." She turned to Izzy, who was lounging in the corner of their booth at the arcade cafe.

He just grinned and shot his wad of tobacco onto the aisle, the epitome of not giving a rat's ass. "Yeah well, It's been a few years since then, and I've had a lot of practice." Really, once he'd gotten the hang of chewing and hiding the smell from his mom, he'd gone through almost a pack a day.

"Well, I have to meet my boyfriend at the skate park," she said, standing up, "so I'll catch you two losers later!" "Fuck you bitch!" Duff yelled. "Just use our money for a shake and run!" Mackenzie grinned and flipped them the bird before skating off. The other patrons of the cafe looked quite scandalized by the young vagabonds' language, but neither cared.

They paid for the food, then headed out the door and back towards Izzy's house. "When's your mom gonna be home?" Duff asked, walking close enough to Izzy to feel his warmth, but not close enough to draw any weird looks. "She's on a trip with friends, I have the house to myself for the whole week." They both grinned at each other and hurried home.

As soon as Izzy had shut and locked the front door, Duff wrapped him up in a huge bear hug. "I missed you," he mumbled into the top of his head, "I hate not being able to hold your hand or kiss you when we're out." Izzy sighed, "I know, but at least we can do whatever we want here." It was true, the Mckagan family was rather religiously uptight, but Izzy's mom was cool with anything. Just as long as, you know, they still quieted down and went to bed by eleven.

"Well come on then, you can kiss me now!" Izzy shouted behind himself as he suddenly raced up the stairs and jumped onto his bed. His boyfriend laughed and followed after him, determined to make up for a day of keeping it strictly platonic.


	2. Chapter 2

Duff sighed as Izzy left soft, wet kisses all over his mouth, chin and cheeks. His boyfriend was sitting comfortably on his lap while he leaned against the headboard in Izzy's room, hands around his waist. They had been cuddling and making out for several hours now, sun no longer shining through the blinds, but moonlight. 

"Don't you have to go home?" Izzy asked, forlorn at the thought of spending the night all alone in an empty house with no boyfriend. "Nope! I told my mom I was gonna stay the night. That is, unless you want me to go....." 

"No!" Izzy shouted, and clambered around on his lap to keep him from getting up. "That is totally not necessary. You are staying right here, mister!" Duff smiled at him and leaned in for another kiss. 'God, he is adorable' the punk thought.

"So if you're staying, what are we gonna do tonight?" Izzy asked. "I wanna hear the rest of the story." Duff replied, "We told Mackenzie about the baseball lot, but not about the river, remember?"

"Yeah, although it was YOU telling the story, not me."

"Then it's your turn to talk!"

"Obviously."

"Well ok then."

"Fine!"

"Alright!"

Both burst into fits of laughter at their mock fight. It was a few minutes before they had calmed down enough to speak again. "Okay," Izzy sighed, the immediately giggled as he remembered the 'fight' from a couple minutes ago, "Why don't we go downstairs and I'll tell the rest while you make dinner?" "That sounds perfect."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duff chuckled and patted him on the back as he coughed up tobacco all over his shirt. "It's ok, it takes awhile to get used to the taste, and to aim well." Jeff just nodded, a little embarrassed at completely failing in front of his new friend. Suddenly, he was struck with terror. "What will I tell my mom?! She'll be able to smell it, and now my shirt is all stained with tobacco drool," he frowned in disgust, looking down at his chest.

"Hmmm.....well, whenever I chew or get stuff on my clothes that I shouldn't, I usually go wash it off in the river. Come on! It's this way!" So Jeff followed him down a different path that branched into several smaller, barely there trails. Instead of going down the most used one like he expected, Duff turned and scrambled over a log on a path he honestly hadn't even noticed.

"Here, let me help you," Jeff blushed as his friend pulled him over with a surprisingly strong grip. "I like to go this way, because it leads to a spot most people don't know about! There's a really nice shallow area along the shore where you can wash your shirt off. But be careful not to go out too deep, unless you can swim well, 'cause there's a strong current and rapids around the bend."  
Jeff just smiled and listened as Duff told him about his favorite swimming hole. There was something almost endearing about the way he rambled on, pausing every now and then to look back and make sure he was alright.

"Ok, here we are!" Duff slid on his bottom down the last of the steep dirt trail and jumped up again as he hit the rocks. "Welcome to Poppy River! May I take your hand, Monsieur?" Jeff giggled at his friend and took his hand, hopping down to land on the rocks next to him. Duff didn't let go of his hand as he strolled down the rocky beach and towards the water's edge. 

"Wait!" Jeff said, "Can I at least take my shoes off?" Duff paused, "Oh yeah! I totally forgot," and took off not only his shoes, but his shirt too. "Here, gimme your shirt so I can wash it out." That shook Jeff from his reverie of staring at Duff's skinny chest. He handed it over, feeling a little self conscious about his own scrawny body.

Duff looked over at him standing there awkwardly with his arms covering his stomach and smiled kindly. "Hey, don't worry, I'm just as skinny as you are. Come in here, the water's great." So Jeff sighed, slowly removed his own sneakers and jeans, and stepped in. It was absolutely freezing.

"Liar!" Duff just laughed, and flicked a little water at him. "You'll get used to it. Here, I washed your shirt, and my own stuff. I'll put our clothes out to dry and then we can swim." He climbed out of the river and walked over to the tree line with the arm full of clothes. Wringing them out one by one, he hung up both t shirts, pairs of socks, and Jeff's jeans, then sprinted back to the water with a grin.

"There! Now we can swim for a while and our stuff will be dry and clean when we get out." So they swam all around like little otters for a good part of an hour, then relaxed. Jeff was floating on his back in the shallows, and Duff had gone into the woods to take a leak. Because his ears were under water, he couldn't hear Duff coming back to surprise him. Extremely startled when something rather heavy jumped and landed on his stomach, he lost control and went under water with a shriek. 

"Woah there," Duff said, pulling him back to the surface and patting his back, "I didn't think you'd react like that. Sorry." "It's okay," Jeff gasped, still shocked from his dunk into the icy water, "I'm fine. But it's getting pretty cold. Maybe we should get out now?" Duff nodded and held out his hand to help him up. "Yeah, the wind is picking up a lot now. It's probably about...5 pm." He said, squinting at the sun through the trees. 

"Do you need to go home soon?" He sounded disappointed, but luckily, the friends wouldn't need to part ways just yet. "No, my mom said as long as I'm 'getting to know our new home' I don't need to be home until 8 or 9." Duff cheered, then plopped down on a log to sit and dry before he got dressed again. Jeff sat next to him and stretched his legs out to get some sun on them, shaking from the cold now. "Aww, com'ere." Duff mumbled when he saw his new friend shiver, and scooted over so that he could throw an arm over his shoulder.

"Do you think we'll be going to school together? What grade are you in?" Jeff was scared that he'd never see his friend again after today, but he had to know. "I go to Rivers Junior High, and I'm gonna be in sixth grade. What about you?" At this, Jeff couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face. "I'm gonna be in six too, and I think that's where my mom said I would go. It's the one on the corner with all the cherry trees next to it, right?" "Yup!" Duff couldn't stop himself from grinning either.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duff squealed when Izzy finished, much to his boyfriend's embarrassment. "You thought you'd never see me again? Honey, that's so sweet!"

"Yes, honey is pretty sweet," Izzy replied back with sass, then hugged Duff. "I was having such a good time, and you were so cool, and you made me feel all nervous but I didn't ever want you to go away." His boyfriend looked close to tears at this admission and hugged him tighter.

"I love you so much, you know that?"

"Hmm, I love you too..."

".....(kissy noises)......"

"Dude, you're breath smells SO bad, I should not have put that much garlic in the pasta."

"Oh, shut up and keep kissing me."


End file.
